The automatic formation of elastic loops is necessary in many different areas of the garment industry. For instance in the making of men's and boy's underpants, it is necessary to form a wide variety of different sizes of elastic loops to be used as the waistband for such garments. Typical machines on the market are able to make about 10-12 loops per minute and require significant downtime to change over from one loop size to another. This downtime is necessary since different sizes of hoops into which the elastic loop is fed are often used to control the size of the elastic loop being formed.
According to the method and apparatus of the present invention, elastic loop formation may be practiced in a manner that is much quicker than conventional elastic loop formation. Utilizing the machine and practicing the method according to the present invention, it is possible to form about 40-60 loops per minute, and there is no substantial downtime when changing over from one size of loop to another.
The basic features of the present invention that allow it to accomplish its desirable results are the provision a loop length determining structure independent of the size of the hoop utilized to form the loop, meaning that only one hoop is necessary; utilizing particular air jets for feeding the elastic material into the hoop and expelling it from the hoop, and a particular construction of the hoop corresponding thereto; and the utilization of a particular cutting and feeding head.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for the quick and efficient automatic formation of elastic loops. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention, and from the appended claims.